Method and system for labeling and organizing data for summarizing and referencing content via a communication network

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods of the present technology generally provide computer implemented assistance for data summary, including organizing and generating a summary of data selected form source documents. In accordance with the present technology, a user identifies a subset of information from one or more source documents, assigns an identifier to the user-identified information, and may add custom information. The user can repeat the identification and assignment steps using multiple source documents, as many times as desired. The system then analyzes and prioritizes the user-identified information and any custom information, and generates a formatted summary.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser.No. 61/793,717, filed on Mar. 15, 2013, the disclosure of which ishereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present technology generally relates to computer-aided data summarysystems and methods that assist users with analyzing data and, moreparticularly, to a method and system for obtaining, analyzing, labeling,organizing, combining, modifying, and/or summarizing data using single-and multi-action operations.

DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART

Professionals and students often require the analysis and manipulationof data and information. Such individuals may practice or study in,without limitation, the fields of law, business, finance, medicine,legal education, business education, medical education, graduateeducation, undergraduate education, and K-12 education.

Existing technology generally requires users to: (i) either obtainpre-sorted data in excess of usability requirements or manually searchfor, gather, and organize multiple documents from various sources, (ii)obtain and utilize several tools to label and annotate such data, and/or(iii) manually organize, integrate, and summarize the original data withuser-created data.

A need exists for a system and/or method that organizes information frommultiple sources, allows users to easily and efficiently label suchinformation, allows users to modify such information, allows users tocombine and separate such information with other information, anddisplays all such information in a user-friendly format. Such a system,by automating and streamlining many labor-intensive steps involved inthe above processes, would reduce the amount of work for, and increasethe efficiency of users.

The systems and methods of the present technology can be used toautomate and streamline many of these steps involved in these processes,through, but not limited to, single-action functionality.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Examples of the present technology can include components of acloud-based (or other Internet-based) or device-based (such as apersonal computer, tablet, smartphone, or other device) platform thatprovides a user with a streamlined interface/display with thefunctionality to display, label, organize, integrate, modify, and/orsummarize information. Additional functionality includes, but is notlimited to, simplified information selection, copying, cutting andpasting, labeling/tagging, separation of annotations from information,integration of information, sorting through and displaying similarinformation or distinguishing dissimilar information, and otherfunctions, either through single-action operation or otherwise, toprovide an efficient user experience.

In one aspect, a data summary system is provided that includes at leastone user device, at least one system server, and a communication linkthat operatively connects the at least one user device and the at leastone system server. The at least one user device can include at least oneuser device processor and at least one user device non-transitorycomputer readable medium. The at least one system server can include atleast one system server including at least one system processor and atleast one system non-transitory computer readable medium. Programinstructions can be stored on the at least one system non-transitorycomputer readable medium, which can be executed by the at least onesystem processor. When executed, the program instructions can cause thesystem server to perform steps of: receiving a first dataset from the atleast one user device, the first dataset including user-identifiedinformation, a unique identifier associated with the user-identifiedinformation, and a user identifier; storing the user-identifiedinformation and the unique identifier in a user profile based on theuser identifier; receiving subsequent datasets if necessary; storingsubsequent information; and generating a summary including theuser-identified information.

Additionally, or alternatively, the user device can include offlinecapability, allowing a user to use the user device to enter and storedata, and even generate summaries, such as in examples where thecommunications link is not immediately available when the user uses thesystem. Accordingly, program instructions can be stored on the at leastone user device non-transitory computer readable medium, which can beexecuted by the at least one user device processor. When executed, theprogram instructions can cause the user device to perform steps of:receiving a first dataset entered by a user, the first dataset includinguser-identified information, a unique identifier associated with theuser-identified information, and a user identifier; storing the firstdataset; receiving subsequent datasets if necessary; storing thesubsequent datasets; generating a summary including the user-identifiedinformation; and synchronizing information on the at least one systemserver when the communications link is available.

In another aspect, a method is provided that can be implemented by adata summary system comprising at least one user device, at least onesystem server, and a communication link that operatively connects the atleast one user device and the at least one system server. The method caninclude steps of the at least one system server receiving a firstdataset from the at least one user device via the communication link,the first dataset including user-identified information, a uniqueidentifier associated with the user-identified information, and a useridentifier; the at least one system server storing the user-identifiedinformation and the unique identifier in a user profile based on theuser identifier; receiving subsequent datasets if necessary; storingsubsequent information; and the at least one system server generating asummary including the user-identified information and custominformation.

In an example where the communications link is not immediately availablewhen the user uses the system, the method can include the steps of: theat least one user device receiving a first dataset entered by a user andstoring the first dataset, the first dataset including user-identifiedinformation, a unique identifier associated with the user-identifiedinformation, and a user identifier; the at least one user devicereceiving and storing subsequent datasets if necessary; the at least oneuser device generating a summary including the user-identifiedinformation and custom information; and the at least one user devicesynchronizing information on the at least one system server when thecommunications link is available.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Specific examples have been chosen for purposes of illustration anddescription, and are shown in the accompanying drawings, forming a partof the specification.

FIG. 1 illustrates a diagram of hardware system components for oneexample of a data summary system of the present technology.

FIG. 2 illustrates a diagram of one example of software systemcomponents that can be used in the system of FIG. 1 .

FIG. 3 illustrates a flow chart of one embodiment of a data summarymethod of the present technology.

FIG. 4 illustrates one embodiment of how a user could associateuser-identified information with a unique identifier.

FIG. 5 illustrates one example of user-identified information beforesingle-action operation.

FIG. 6 illustrates one example of a summary created by single-actionoperation.

FIG. 7 illustrates one embodiment of how a user can aggregate,manipulate, and distinguish information from multiple summaries.

FIG. 8 illustrates a merged view showing one embodiment of the linkingbetween FIGS. 1 & 2 .

FIG. 9 illustrates a flow chart of one embodiment of the of mergingsummary data with original content.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrates an embodiment of the system architecture ofone example of a data summary system 100 of the present technology. Asshown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , the data organizing system includes at leastone user device 102 and at least one system server 104, and acommunication link 106, through which the user device 102 and systemserver 104 are operatively connected. The term “operatively connected”as used herein means that the at least one user device 102 and the atleast one system server 104 can send and receive data to one anotherthrough the communication link 106. The communication link 106 caninclude a wired connection or a wireless connection, and can be via alocal area network (LAN) connection, or via a wide area network (WAN)connection, such as the Internet.

The hardware components of each of the user device 102 and the systemserver 104 include at least one processor, and at least onenon-transient computer readable storage medium, such as a memory. Asshown in FIG. 1 , the user device 102 includes at least one user deviceprocessor 108 and at least one user device memory 110, and the systemserver includes at least one system processor 112 and at least onesystem memory 114. The user device 102 can also include an input device134, that the user can use to input commands to the user device 102,such as selection of user-identified information. The input device 134can include one or more of a keyboard, a mouse, an electronic pointingdevice, a touch screen, or any other suitable device.

Examples of system architecture components of each of the user device102 and the system server 104 are illustrated in FIG. 2 .

As shown, the user device 102 includes a browser 116, which is assigneda unique user identifier 118. The user identifier 118 is an identifierthat identifies the user device 102 to the server system 104. The useridentifier may be stored in a file referred to as a “cookie.” In oneexample, the server system 104 can assign and send the user identifier118 to the user device 102 once, when the user device 102 firstinteracts with the server system 104. Once the user device 102 receivesthe user identifier 118, the user device stores the user identifier 118,such as in the user device memory 110, and provides it with everymessage sent to the server system 104. The server system 104, which canhave communication links with any number of user devices, can thusidentify the user device 102 as being the source of the message.

As also shown in FIG. 2 , the system server 104 can include a serverengine 120, user profile database 122 including a stored user profile132 associated with each user identifier, a website database 124including web pages, a unique identifier database 126, a user-identifiedinformation database 128, and a custom information database 130. Eachdatabase of the server system 104 can be stored in the system memory114. The server engine 120 can include at least the system processor112.

In the illustrated example, the server system 104 associates, andoperatively links, each user identifier 118 with a user profile 132stored in the user profile database 122, unique identifiers,user-identified information identified by the user device 102, andcustom information received from the user device 102.

In some examples, the server engine 120 receives HTTP requests from auser device 102 to access web pages identified by URLs, and provides therequested web pages from the website database 124 to the user device102. However, one of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that thesummary techniques described herein could be used in variousenvironments other than the Internet. For example, the summaries couldalso be in an electronic mail environment. Also, a server system 104 oruser device 102 may include any combination of hardware or softwaresuitable for performing the methods described herein. For example, auser device 102 may comprise any combination of hardware or softwarethat can interact with the server system 104. Either the user device 102or the server system 104 can include one or more handheld devices,personal computers or television- or tablet-based systems, or variousconsumer computer products through which information may be generated.

FIG. 3 illustrates one example of a data summary method of the presenttechnology. At step 202, a user uses the user device 102 to identifyuser-identified information in a source document. The source documentcan be any electronic document, such as digital text, media, web pages,or other content to be included in the summary. The user can identifythe user-identified information by selecting a subset of text in asource document, such as by highlighting the text and clicking a mouseto select the text. Once the user has selected the user-identifiedinformation, the user may be prompted to associate such user-identifiedinformation with a unique identifier. At step 204, the user associates aunique identifier with the user-identified information. The user canselect the unique identifier associated with the user-identifiedinformation from a plurality of predefined unique identifiers, such as alisting of unique identifiers presented in a drop-down menu.Alternatively, the unique identifiers can be customized by the user. Atstep 206, the summary system allows the user to input or modifyadditional custom information under the unique identifier. The userdevice 102 then sends a first dataset to the server system 104 via thecommunication link 106. The first data set includes the user identifier118, the user-identified information, and the unique identifierassociated with the user-identified information. The server system 104receives the first dataset, recognizes the user identifier, and storesthe user-identified information in the user's profile. If the user didnot input or modify additional custom information, the server system 104saves the user-identified information under the unique identifier chosenby the user. However, if the user did modify or input custominformation, the server system 104 saves the new or modified custominformation, along with the user-identified information.

At step 210, the summary system determines whether the user is donecreating user-identified information. If the user is not done, themethod repeats steps 202 through 208, with the user selectinguser-identified information from any one or more source documents, whichcan be the same or different from the original source document and eachother. If the user has completed identifying user-identifiedinformation, the method progresses to step 212.

At step 212, the server system enables the generation of a data summary.In some examples, the user can cause the server system 104, or the userdevice 102, to generate the summary with a single action. For example,the user can enter a single command, such as a mouse click on a buttonin a selection box displayed by the user device 102, which the userdevice 102 sends to the system server 104, in order to cause the serversystem 104 to create a summary of the user-identified information andany custom information. In an example where the user device is beingused offline, the user can enter the single command in order to causethe user device 102 to create a summary of the user-identifiedinformation and any custom information. If the user enters the command,summary system 100 proceeds to step 214, where the summary system 100,either through the server system 104 or the user device 102, reformatsthe user-identified information and the associated unique identifier,and reformats the information in order to generate a summary. Generatinga summary includes prioritizing and formatting the information receivedfrom the user. For example, if custom information is present under aunique identifier, the summary system 100 can format the custominformation in the summary, including prioritizing the custominformation relative to, such as above or below, the user-identifiedinformation for any given unique identifier at step 216. Additionally,at step 218, the system formats the user-identified information into thesummary. In generating the summary, the summary system 100 can link thesummarized information to the original information and vice versa atstep 220. Finally, at step 222, the summary system 100 can provide thegenerated summary to the user. If the server system 104 generated thesummary, the summary can be provided to the user by sending thegenerated summary to the user device 102 via the communication link 106.

In examples where the user can cause the summary to be generated with asingle action, once the user initiates the single-action (via a mouseclick, keystroke, or otherwise), the system generates a formattedsummary. The summary system 100 can also allow the user to modify thegenerated summary. In general, the user need only enter theuser-identified information, and any custom information, under eachunique identifier, and then execute the single action in order togenerate a summary. Such systems can allow the user to efficiently andreliably generate a summary of digital text, media, web pages, or othercontent.

In alternative examples, a multi-action operation can be used, which caninclude defining a custom summary format through multiple mouse clicksand/or keystrokes prior to generating the summary.

FIG. 4 illustrates one embodiment of how the user can assign a uniqueidentifier 300 to a selection of user-identified information 302. Inthis example, once the user-identified information 302 is selected bythe user, a unique identifier selection box 304 is displayed by the userdevice 102, providing the user with various predefined or common uniqueidentifiers 300. These may include, as examples only, Fact, Issue,Procedure, Reasoning, Rule, Holding, Notes. The user can then select theunique identifier 300 to be associated with the user-identifiedinformation 302 through a single action (via a mouse click or otherwise)or multiple actions. Once a particular unique identifier 300 is selectedby the user (via a mouse click or otherwise), the summary system 100associates that unique identifier 300 with the particular selection ofuser-identified information 302, and saves such association for possiblefurther processing. The summary system 100 can allow the user to modifyand customize the unique identifiers 300 and the unique identifierselection box 304.

FIG. 5 illustrates one example of content where the user has identifieduser-identified information 400, and associated the user-identifiedinformation 400 with unique identifiers 402 and the system has savedsuch information under the user's profile. In some instances, the userhas input custom information 404 under the unique identifiers. Thesummary system 100 stores the user-identified information 400, theunique identifiers 402, and the custom information 404 in the systemserver 104 in association with the user identifier 118.

FIG. 6 illustrates one example of a summary 500 generated by the systemserver 104 of the summary system 100. The summary 500 includes a listingof each unique identifier 502. Under each unique identifier 502, anycustom information 504 and user-identified information 506 associatedwith the unique identifier 502 are listed. The custom information 504 isillustrated as being prioritized over the user-identified information506 for each unique identifier 502. The system can, however, becustomized to prioritize custom and user-identified information in anyorder.

The summary system 100 can also aggregate multiple summaries, and allowthe user to view user-identified information and/or custom informationby unique identifier across multiple summaries. FIG. 7 illustrates oneexample of how multiple summaries 600 can be aggregated and how uniqueidentifiers can be used to filter and/or distinguish information frommultiple summaries. In this example, a unique identifier activation box602 is used to allow the user to select desired unique identifiers 604,by checking the indicated selection box(es). The summary system 100generates a display of all of the user-identified information 606 andcustom information 608 associated with the selected unique identifiers602. An information type selection box 610 can be used to displayuser-identified information 606, custom information 608, or both. Inthis example, the information type selection box 610 differs from theunique identifier activation box 602 in that the information typeselection box 610 allows the user to choose to display eitheruser-identified information 606 or custom information 608, or both,across multiple summaries, while the unique identifier activation box602 allows the user to choose to display information (eitheruser-identified information 606 or custom information 608, or both)associated with certain unique identifiers (and exclude others) acrossmultiple summaries 600. Thus, a compilation of summaries can be createdby the summary system 100.

FIG. 8 illustrates an integrated view of source document 702 and asummary 704 in a split-screen display 700. The source document 702includes the original digital text, media, web pages, or other content.As shown, the summary system can link the summarized information to theoriginal information in the source document, and vice versa. Thisexample also includes a notes area 706, for the user to input additionalinformation.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of a process for generating the split screenview of FIG. 8 . At step 802, the server system 104 generates thesummary, which can be in accordance with the process illustrated in FIG.3 . At step 804, the summary system enables the user to select a splitview, such as by displaying a selection box to the user via the userdevice and sending a user selection to the system server 104. At step806, the split screen is generated by the server system 104, and sent tothe user device 102 to be displayed to the user. In generating the splitscreen, the summary system 100 can maintain the links between the sourcedocument and the user-identified information. Additionally, at step 808,the summary system can also generate the notes area 706, which can besent to the user device 102 to be displayed to the user, where the usercan input additional information.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that although specificexamples have been described herein for purposes of illustration,various modifications may be made without deviating from the spirit orscope of this disclosure. It is therefore intended that the foregoingdetailed description be regarded as illustrative rather than limiting,and that it be understood that it is the following claims, including allequivalents, that are intended to particularly point out and distinctlyclaim the claimed subject matter.

What is claimed is:
 1. A data summary system comprising: a user deviceincluding a user device processor and a user device memory; a systemserver including a system processor and a system memory; a communicationlink that operatively connects the user device and the system server; aunique identifier selection box displayed on the user device after texthas been selected, the unique identifier selection box comprising aplurality of unique identifiers, the plurality of unique identifierscomprising a respective category associated with legal research; aunique identifier activation box configured to filter one or more of theplurality of unique identifiers displayed on the user device based onactivated unique identifiers; program instructions stored on at leastone of the system memory and the user device memory, wherein the programinstructions are executable by at least one of the system processor andthe user device processor that, when executed, cause the data summarysystem to perform the steps of: receiving a dataset, the datasetincluding user-identified information, unique identifiers selected fromthe plurality of unique identifiers of the unique identifier selectionbox and that are associated with the user-identified information, and auser identifier; storing the user-identified information and theselected unique identifiers; and automatically generate a summaryincluding the user-identified information associated with the activatedunique identifiers.
 2. The data summary system of claim 1, wherein thestep of storing includes storing the user-identified information and theunique identifier in a user profile based on the user identifier.
 3. Thedata summary system of claim 1, wherein the program instructions, whenexecuted, further cause the data summary system to perform a step of:linking the source document and the user-identified information.
 4. Thedata summary system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of uniqueidentifiers includes predefined unique identifiers.
 5. The data summarysystem of claim 1, wherein the program instructions, when executed,further cause the data summary system to perform steps of: receivingcustom information input by a user under a selected unique identifier ofthe plurality of unique identifiers; and storing the custom informationin the user profile.
 6. The data summary system of claim 5, wherein thestep of generating the summary includes prioritizing the custominformation relative to the identified information.
 7. The data summarysystem of claim 1, wherein the program instructions, when executed,further cause the data summary system to perform a step of: providingthe generated summary to the user device.
 8. The data summary system ofclaim 1, wherein the program instructions, when executed, further causethe data summary system to perform a step of: aggregating multiplesummaries.
 9. The data summary system of claim 1, wherein the programinstructions, when executed, further cause the data summary system toperform a step of: generating a split screen display including a sourcedocument comprising at least a portion of the user-identifiedinformation and a summary generated by the data summary system.
 10. Amethod implemented by a data summary system comprising a user device, asystem server, and a communication link that operatively connects theuser device and the system server, the method comprising steps of: theuser device displaying a unique identifier selection box comprising aplurality of unique identifiers upon a user selecting text within asource document; the system server receiving a dataset from the userdevice via the communication link, the dataset including theuser-identified information comprising the selected text, a uniqueidentifier of the plurality of unique identifiers that is a topic orcategory associated with legal research and that is further associatedwith the selected text of the user-identified information, and a useridentifier; the system server storing the user-identified informationand the unique identifier in a user profile based on the useridentifier; the system server retrieving the dataset; the system serverfiltering the dataset based on one or more selections of a uniqueidentifier activation box; and the system server generating a summary ofthe dataset displayed on a single screen and arranged in a plurality ofsections, with at least one of the plurality of sections being definedby the one or more selections of the unique identifier activation box.11. The method of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises a stepof: the system server linking the source document and theuser-identified information.
 12. The method of claim 10, wherein theplurality of unique identifiers includes predefined unique identifiers.13. The method of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises thesteps of: the system server receiving custom information input by a userunder the unique identifier; and the system server storing the custominformation in the user profile.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein thestep of generating the summary includes prioritizing the custominformation above the user-identified information.
 15. The method ofclaim 10, wherein the method further comprises a step of: the systemserver providing the generated summary to the user device.
 16. Themethod of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises a step of: thesystem server aggregating multiple summaries.
 17. The method of claim10, wherein the method further comprises a step of: the system servergenerating a split screen display including the source document and thesummary generated by the system.
 18. A method implemented by a datasummary system, the method comprising steps of: the user devicedisplaying a unique identifier selection box in response to a userselecting user-identified information, the unique identifier selectionbox comprising a plurality of unique identifiers; the user devicereceiving a selection of a unique identifier from the plurality ofunique identifiers of the unique identifier selection box, wherein theunique identifier is a topic or category associated with legal research;the user device storing a dataset, the dataset including a plurality ofuser-identified information comprising the user-identified information,the unique identifier being associated with the user-identifiedinformation, and a user identifier; the user device generating a customsummary including the plurality of user-identified information formattedaccording to one or more settings associated with the user identifier;and the user device synchronizing information on a system server when acommunications link is available, wherein the communication linkoperatively connects the user device and the system server.
 19. Themethod of claim 18, wherein generating the summary is initiated by theuser with a single command.
 20. The method of claim 18, wherein themethod further comprises a step of: the user device displaying a secondunique identifier selection box in response to the user selecting seconduser-identified information, the second unique identifier selection boxcomprising the plurality of unique identifiers; and the user devicereceiving a selection of a second unique identifier from the pluralityof unique identifiers of the second unique identifier selection box, thesecond unique identifier being associated with the seconduser-identified information.
 21. The data summary system of claim 18,wherein, for a given setting associated with the user, only a subset ofthe user-identified information that is associated with a given uniqueidentifier is listed under the given unique identifier in the summary.